Things That Go Bump In The Night
by ennisjackgal
Summary: One shot in the Lessons In Love universe. Ennis and Jack are celebrating Halloween together in their adopted home of Provincetown, MA. While it's the scariest night of the year, they find that they're always safe with each other.


**Things That Go Bump In The Night**

_October 31st, 2008_

It was the day of Halloween, and Ennis was busy getting ready for work when Jack crept up behind him, slowly sliding his arms around his waist lovingly.

"Hey cowboy," he said to him. The nickname had stuck despite the fact that Ennis hadn't been to the ranch since the summer before they'd met, five years ago. Now they were married, legally no less, and living together in beautiful Provincetown, Massachusetts.

"Hey, darlin'," Ennis replied with a smile. "Ain't you gettin' ready for work?"

"Already am," Jack told him, releasing him and letting him turn around. Indeed, Jack was ready for work. It was clear that he was interested in some time with his man before going about his day. "C'mere..."

They moved in close and kissed, tongues meeting eagerly as they held onto one another. Jack sighed into Ennis's mouth; he could never tire of this feeling and knew that this was where he was supposed to be.

"I love you," he whispered to his husband as they broke apart.

"Love you too," Ennis told him, and then swatted his ass. "Come on, let's get some breakfast." Jack followed him out of the room, admiring the ass he loved so much.

Ennis made them both breakfast, eggs and bacon, and they sat down in the home they had made together, appreciating what they had and how hard they'd worked to get it. Things hadn't always run smoothly for them, but it made them value what they had now. They had worked to get to this point, and were now reaping the benefits as a legally married couple building a life together.

"So what are we doing for Halloween?" Jack asked, looking at Ennis. "I know we just usually sit in and watch movies, but...you wanna do something different this year?" He cleared his throat. "I mean...we've been together five years now."

Ennis nodded. "Yeah, I guess. Remember that dorm party the first year? When we dressed up?"

Jack laughed. "Yeah, I do. And if I recall...we did our own trick or treating that night." He winked at Ennis, who grinned.

"Sure did. And remember Lureen in her cheerleader outfit?"

"Yep. She turned a few heads, alright. Bet she got lots of attention..."

"Probably. So...maybe there'll be a party around here we could go to. They tend to do them on the night, right? Maybe we'll find something there."

"Okay." They finished their breakfast and then made to leave. Jack would be heading in one direction to the counselling centre, and Ennis would be going the other way to the animal clinic. They always met up for lunch, either at a café or back home, and being back together was the highlight of their day.

At the usual point where they said goodbye, they turned to each other and kissed, knowing they would see each other again soon.

"Bye, bud," Jack said to his husband, smiling widely.

"You bet, darlin'," he replied, watching as he walked away.

* * *

Their work places were decorated for the holiday, plastic pumpkins and bats strung high. There weren't so many spiders at Jack's counselling centre; there could be people with arachnophobia walking around and it was only fair to treat them with respect.

Jack sat down at his desk, smiling when he saw the piece of candy there. One of his workmates, a guy named Steve, had gotten into the habit of leaving everybody a piece of candy every day leading up to both Halloween and Christmas, and he did it every year. Jack liked working here; everybody was nice to him, even the straight guys that could be hostile if they wanted to be, and nobody batted an eyelid when he told them he was married to another man. This had been the perfect place for him and Ennis to settle down.

He flicked through the magazine that always seemed to end up in his pile, and paused at one page. There was to be a huge Halloween party on the night this year, just a few blocks from where they lived. It was a costume party that was just starting this year at the venue, and all they would have to do was buy a ticket and they would get free food and drink all night.

Jack nodded to himself and made a note of the location, intending to tell Ennis about this. Maybe they could go over there during their lunch break. He would love to attend a party with Ennis.

Over at the animal clinic, Ennis was busy working through a pile of papers and making sure that the client files on the computer were up to date. He had a great work ethic and loved his job. As interns, they weren't yet being paid, but both were doing very well and would be up for a promotion to paid jobs by next summer. In the meantime, they had the rest of Jack's inheritance to live off and were doing okay.

Ennis thought about their time here so far. They'd gotten married soon after moving here and getting their jobs, and now it had only been about four months since then. But he had been with Jack for five years now, and they were still just as happy with each other as they had been back at college, when they were roommates and keeping their relationship a secret for most of the year. Coming out had been the hardest thing that Ennis had ever done, and deciding to do it by going out and holding hands with Jack had been nerve-wracking for him. But he was glad he'd done it; they had shown their classmates that they were united and weren't ashamed of who they were or what they felt for one another.

He smiled to himself at the thought. Jack was the love of his life and Ennis was determined to make him happy, no matter what it took. He was this man's husband, and gladly so.

* * *

At lunch, the pair of them met up at a little café on the seafront, Jack bringing the advert for the Halloween party with him. They got two hours for their break, so he thought that they could maybe find costumes if they were quick. He knew that their old ones from college, which were currently at the end of the closet, might not fit anymore.

"Hey, cowboy," he greeted Ennis, kissing him warmly. Ennis kissed back eagerly, feeling complete now that Jack was back in his arms.

"Hey yourself," he replied as they sat down, reaching for the menus. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine." They ordered their lunch, a plate of sandwiches, chips and salad to share, and held hands across the table.

"So what's been going on? What have you been up to?" Ennis asked, and Jack remembered the advert.

"Not much, just some paperwork. But look what I found..." He pulled out the small piece of paper and handed it over. It's tonight, just down the road from our place."

"Huh...sounds good," Ennis mused, looking over it. "But we don't have costumes...I don't know if those old ones from college would fit us anymore..."

"I don't either, but we've got plenty of time to go and find out. And if they don't, we'll go to that place on the front, near the pier. I bet they'll have something good left."

"Yeah, maybe." The waitress brought over their lunch and they started to eat, talking about the party. Jack asked Ennis if he would dance with him and Ennis agreed; he'd always danced with Jack when he was asked, and had never felt uncomfortable doing so.

After they were done eating, they headed back to their apartment and dug out their old costumes, which were safely encased in coat bags to keep the dust off. Ennis's vampire costume could do with some new fake fangs, which were easy enough to pick up. And Jack's pirate eye patch was wearing thin, which also went on the list.

They got changed in their room, opening up the closet door wide so that they could see themselves in the mirror. Both costumes appeared to fit as perfectly as they had done five years ago, to their surprise. They couldn't help grinning at each other.

"You know...that party back in college...I remember hoping that we'd find a dark corner somewhere. So that we could make out," Jack admitted with a flirty grin, and Ennis pulled him close.

"We'll have to keep that in mind, then. And I remember someone telling me he wants me to bite him. But that'll have to wait until we're back here." He leaned in to kiss Jack, who pulled away for a second.

"Is it too kinky to do it with our costumes on?" he asked, tilting his head. "We never did that."

Ennis shrugged. "Guess there's a first time for everything." He grabbed Jack and this time got his lips, making him go weak at the knees.

* * *

When they finished work, they headed back to their apartment to grab some dinner and change into their costumes. Ennis couldn't stop thinking about Jack's idea for them to have sex while still wearing the costumes. It was incredibly kinky, and while they had enjoyed a fairly wild sex life during their time together, and weren't shy about exploring new things, this would be a first.

But without a doubt, the kinkiest thing they had ever done was making videos of themselves. They still had the one they made in college, and had made a few more in the years since. It was an incredible turn on, to watch himself and Jack having sex.

They changed into their costumes after dinner, including new teeth and eye patch, and admired each other before heading out into the cold October air. Being near a body of water, the area tended to get a little colder than usual during these months. But it wasn't as if they couldn't warm each other up in bed, Ennis thought to himself wryly.

Finding the hall that was decorated for the party, they joined the throng of people heading in and made their way through, hearing the live band up on the stage. They were all dressed in skeleton outfits, and there were some strange sights here. The two of them saw lots of movie characters, real-life famous figures, actors, musicians...everything they could think of. Neither of them could quite believe that they hadn't thought of this before.

To be fair, they had only moved here during the summer, and married soon after. They hadn't been living here for very long, and previous Halloweens were spent in their apartment near campus as they'd completed their degrees and Masters.

Ennis took Jack by the hands and they started to dance to the fast number, grins on their faces. There were plenty of same-sex couples here, in keeping with the friendliness of the area, and when Ennis pulled Jack close to dip him down for a kiss, nobody batted an eyelid.

Jack then moved in close to Ennis's body, wrapped up in his arms as the next slow number started to play. "I love you," he murmured, glancing as his wedding ring, the same ring that Ennis had given him for their first Christmas together, glinted in the light. Ennis was doing the same thing, remembering when they were just commitment rings. Now they were married legally, at least somewhere in the world.

"I love you too," he replied, leaning in for a kiss as slow as the song. Jack felt his eyes slide shut as Ennis's tongue entered his mouth, and he practically melted against his husband's soft lips.

When the evening was finally over, they walked slowly back to their home, hand in hand. They stopped now and then to make out in doorways and alleyways, whispering to each other and smiling softly. They were still as much in love as they had been five years ago.

* * *

They entered the dark apartment, moving through shadows and moonlight towards the bedroom as they kissed. No words were uttered; they simply shut the door and moved in close.

After several moments of heavy kissing, clothes started flying off. As kinky and fun as it would be to do this while wearing their costumes, both of them preferred to see and feel every part of each other. Ennis wanted to see Jack's chest shining with sweat in the moonlight as they made love.

"I want you," he breathed against Jack's lips. "I wanna fuck you..."

Jack trembled with desire and nodded. "Uh huh..." His hands trailed down Ennis's bare chest and between his legs. "Want you inside me..."

They tumbled onto the bed and crawled up, kissing and tangling their legs together. Jack breathed heavily as Ennis kissed his neck and started to stroke him, lightly so as to drive him crazy with lust.

"Oh God...Ennis..."

"What do you want, Jack?" he whispered, hearing Jack give a soft moan. "Tell me what you want..."

"Fuck me," Jack groaned, pulling him closer. "Fuck me, please..." Ennis reached for the lube and slathered it over himself quickly, and then pulled Jack's legs to rest over his shoulders.

He slid in all at once, in one smooth thrust. Jack sighed, finally feeling complete. Ennis kissed him deeply as he moved inside him, doing what Jack had asked of him. Not wanting to tease Jack so much that it was uncomfortable, he trailed a hand down his husband's chest and took hold of him firmly, hearing a moan. "Oh God...that's it..."

Jack was beyond coherent thought by now; all he was aware of was the man inside him, the man touching him and kissing him. He was painfully hard and bucking into Ennis's hand as he was given the hard fuck he'd asked for. Ennis relentlessly thrust into him again and again, damn near growling as he got closer to the edge.

At last, Jack shot between them and Ennis soon followed, collapsing onto him. Head spinning from the encounter, Jack sighed as he felt Ennis pull out of him.

"That was amazing...I guess things really do go bump in the night on Halloween..."

"Mmm...but for us...would that be things that go 'hump' in the night?" Ennis replied, grinning to himself breathlessly. Jack started laughing, shaking underneath him, and Ennis rose up. "I love you."

"Love you too, cowboy. You're crazy, you know that?"

"Only for you," Ennis replied as he leaned in to kiss Jack, sliding his tongue in to find Jack's and hearing his husband breathe into his mouth. They slowly made out for a while, and then Ennis rolled onto his own side, both of them getting under the covers and burrowing close.

"So...guess that was a treat, then," Jack observed, running his hand over Ennis's warm chest.

"Yep. Didn't need to get you candy...you're already sweet." They smiled at each other and closed their eyes, safe in their own home.


End file.
